


Just a hunch

by Changdeol



Series: MG, canon compliant, drabble series [1]
Category: TharnType the Series (TV), เกลียดนักมาเป็นที่รักกันซะดีๆ | TharnType: The Series (TV) RPF
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:08:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23648983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Changdeol/pseuds/Changdeol
Summary: For Gulf, it was but a hunch, barely a small push in the right direction.
Relationships: Mew Suppasit Jongcheveevat/Gulf Kanawut Traipipattanapong
Series: MG, canon compliant, drabble series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704388
Comments: 10
Kudos: 127





	Just a hunch

It didn’t really start in any spectacular way – not for Gulf, anyway. Not in the bolt out of the blue sort of way, nor was it anything you might see in a romantic comedy. Rather, it was a hunch, barely a small push in the right direction. One of the many more to come and one in many he has already overlooked or chosen to ignore before.

Around the end of November, Gulf invited himself to P’s flat on a whim. There was no particular reason. On the contrary – in between his public schedules which he was trying hard to fit into the remaining semester of his undergrad activities, there was hardly time for Gulf to socialise with his old friends and even less reason to come see P’, whom he saw on a regular basis every other day anyway. But they had talked on the phone that morning about a work related matter and Gulf could tell that there was something wrong. He asked whether he could stop by for dinner and P’Mew didn’t question his sudden decision, taking it in stride and going as far as offering to order food first. Despite approaching deadlines and the distance between his university and P’s place, Gulf cut his library session short and grabbed the first tuk tuk down south.

Gulf’s girlfriend in particular wasn’t happy about the development since even without Gulf’s suddenly making plans with other people, there was already hardly any time for them to hang out together. Gulf simultaneously felt guilty but he also didn’t – it was a strange contradiction that he had yet to reconcile. In recent weeks, he began noticing that their relationship wasn’t giving either of them the fulfilment it had when they first started. He tried to feel bad about ditching her but somehow, he became more concerned about P’Mew sitting all alone and possibly grieving.

Gulf vaguely remembered that the rest of his family was out of town.

P’ didn’t really have a habit of oversharing his problems – that much Gulf had already learnt a long time ago. P’Mew was much more reserved than Gulf himself in many respects. He was emotional and sensitive but he also often bottled it all inside, choosing to internalise the pain rather than explicitly state the problem. Consequently, when he finally exploded it wasn’t pretty.

It was the complete opposite of Gulf’s rather open, assertive personality so the two would inevitably clash sometimes, though thankfully it did not happen as frequently considering the long months they had spent glued to each other’s side. When they did, Gulf had no reservations to call the other out on his passive aggressive behaviour and that was usually enough to bring P’ back to his senses.

But that day felt a little different. There was no conflict, at least not between them. There was also nothing that would give Gulf an idea about the source of P’s trouble. It was but a subtle note in his tone of voice when he briefly and unsuccessfully tried to persuade Gulf that he shouldn’t waste his time on such a long trip only to have to go back again within the next few hours.

‘Would you prefer to be alone today?’ Gulf didn’t know why he said it, perhaps it was the said hunch which ticked him off. After a short hesitant pause, P’ replied,

‘Not really, no.’

So Gulf arrived almost an hour later, stupidly carrying his entire bag full of boring books and notes he borrowed from classmates from the days he failed to attend for whatever reason. As usual, P’ had been right – there was no need for Gulf to waste his time like this but Gulf knew he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate anyway, sensing that he was somehow needed here. He was loyal to his friends to a fault, was what his mother always said. Gulf would only shrug in return.

Relationships were to be constantly built and maintained, not just celebrated when it was convenient.

As it turned out, P’Mew himself was seated in the living area, a thick book split in the middle almost to the page in front of him. He was clearly busy and simply too nice to say anything about it on the phone. When Gulf made himself comfortable on the floor, P’ made a turn for the adjoined kitchen and brought two plates and a box of pizza.

Predictably, even Gulf’s favourite pepperoni arrived before him.

‘You really need to stop eating like a kid, nong,’ P’ observed, amused at the renewed energy with which Gulf grabbed two sliced at once and proceeded to put them both in his mouth in one big roll.

‘Hungry,’ he murmured in between bites. P’Mew chuckled briefly before he sat back down and reached for his drink instead. _O-Liang_ , Gulf mentally winced. Too sweet and way too late to be drinking that.

As if feeling his gaze, P’ said,

‘I need to finish reading this book tonight.’ Gulf looked at the thick tome as if it personally offended him. ‘There are other things in the fridge, though. Just help yourself.’

‘You’re not going to eat?’

‘I shouldn’t. I had early dinner tonight.’ He sent a longing look towards the box before sighing dramatically. ‘And it definitely wasn’t pizza.’

Gulf laughed.

‘Gym again?’ A short nod followed. ‘Come on… Just one piece. You know you want to.’ He unceremoniously dumped the biggest one onto P’s plate, handing it to him. P’s resistance was suspiciously weak.

‘I’m going to regret it. I hate you and your perfect metabolism.’ Gulf chuckled again at the words. They fell silent for a moment, munching on their food. Usually the silence wasn’t uncomfortable, it stopped being so a long time ago between them. Today Gulf felt that the atmosphere was rather melancholic instead. From the corner of his eyes, he decided that P’ was a little upset though not really angry.

‘Should we go get ice cream?’ Gulf asked again. He didn’t have a particularly sweet tooth but he needed an excuse to not look at his own books just yet.

P’Mew’s lips stretched in another amused smile. He saw right through the plan.

‘I bought some when I stepped outside to get my coffee. It’s in the freezer.’ Gulf nodded, pursing his lips innocently though he’d already been had. ‘I’m sorry, nong. I really can’t entertain you tonight. I’ve recently missed two seminars in a row because of work.’

‘Who said I need you to entertainment me? I’ve brought my own. All seven of them,’ Gulf added resigned, not looking particularly happy at the textbooks and the stack of notes he took out of his bag. P’ briefly patted his shoulder, giving him an absent-minded side hug, his eyes already back on his book.

‘Study for a bit or do whatever you like, you know where everything is.’ Gulf has been there a few times though he wouldn’t say he’d felt comfortable to lurk around as he pleased. But hey, the fridge was _right there_ and half a pizza was hardly enough for him. ‘I’ll drive you back to your house in a bit.’

That had Gulf feel a little guilty because driving there and back was the last P’ had the time for right now.

‘I’ll take one of the night _song thew_ back,’ he responded but P’ just shook his head. Great, this had just become a matter of responsibility for him and also, was impossible to argue with.

They sat shoulder to shoulder for some time, working on their respective tasks. P’Mew looked focused though it did seem to take him an unusually long time to move from one page to another. Gulf could say the same for himself – he knew that the finals were going to catch him off guard (like pretty much every semester…) so he should study while the time allows. But the subject was boring. He quite liked his major but he wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic about it as he should be, considering he fought his father tooth and nail about it back in the day. Until today, his refusing to become an engineer was a sore spot between them.

All in all, Gulf spent half an hour uselessly skimming through his unreadable notes while he ate his ice cream, and then P’s as well. After a while, he started stealing glances at P’Mew. They had known each other for close to a year already and Gulf could probably draw P’s face from memory, that’s how frequently they saw each other. And yet, there was still something left of that first impression, that first moment they properly talked, that scene they acted out together during the audition. When Gulf focused on nothing but the person in front of him, the characterisation so convincing that he had famously reddened, as P’May liked to remind the press every once in a while. Naturally, fiction and reality were two different things. But even so, once you looked at P’Mew, it was sometimes hard to take your eyes away.

Gulf was eventually caught. There was both surprise and question in P’s eyes, one to which Gulf had no logical response to so he just sent him a silly smile and P’ sent one back. Just as he opened his mouth to comment on the distraction, his cell phone went off.

‘I’ll take it outside.’ P’Mew gestured to the balcony and he soon disappeared further down the corridor. Once the other was gone, Gulf stopped pretending he cared about his studies altogether. He looked at P’s book and notes but the latter was studying the very subject Gulf wouldn’t even approach with a stick. Instead, looking over his shoulder and realising that P’ wasn’t coming back any time soon, he pulled the open MacBook closer. He didn’t bring his own, not having felt any reason to add to the weight on his back in the morning.

He didn’t mean to snoop, truly. He merely opened the panel to find a blank Safari tab and check the recent Premier League scores. He could easily do it on his phone but he couldn’t resist a bigger screen with easier interface.

The words which appeared in front of him instead were part of an open email message and it didn’t take much time for Gulf to understand the context. Comparatively, he hadn’t been around for long but he had of course done his homework on P’Mew the first night after they met and the good impression the latter made on him. Even if he hadn’t wanted to, it had soon become his job to promote their project and be prepared to protect his partner when necessary. The last thing he wanted to discuss with the media was what P’ had and hadn’t done with his previous co-star but he also couldn’t be taken by surprise on the matter and leave the older flustered to deal with the aftermath himself.

The words on the screen were hurtful. Gulf had no idea who Phoom was or why they would choose to bring up such a sensitive matter after so long but the email come as yet another response in an exchange between P’Mew and the sender. Gulf pulled the page back down and hastily returned the laptop to its original position, feeling that he had already intruded more than he had the right to.

It did explain a few things though. Like the mood today, for one. Why P’Mew seemed down. He was the kind of person who could fixate over a matter for days. Gulf didn’t understand but had already accepted it, alongside many other quirks. It just felt very P’ and there was really nothing else he could do, other than support the older man. Gulf really didn’t like it when P’ was out of it, it significantly changed their dynamics and Gulf didn’t know how to deal with the problem. It was usually P’Mew who was the more active and encouraging, he would lead Gulf in most situations and Gulf would happily follow. However, when it came to reversing that logic, Gulf was a little lost.

Right then, P’Mew came back into the room, smiling at Gulf sitting there useless and picking at the threads sticking out of the ripped holes in his denims. There was usually a lot of amusement and warmth in P’s smiles sent towards Gulf.

‘I just really am not feeling like studying tonight,’ Gulf declared before he could be called out on his procrastination.

‘Truthfully, me neither but I don’t have the comfort of being able to skip. I’ve already skipped too much.’ P’ sat down again and Gulf noted with satisfaction that this time he moved a little closer towards him. Gulf could feel the body heat radiating from the other and normally it wouldn’t be a particularly pleasant sensation because of the weather outside, but with P’Mew it felt reassuring. It also made Gulf quite self-aware.

The other thing about P’Mew was that he seemed to be highly affectionate with those he considered close. Since January, Gulf has spent most of his waking moments in P’s presence but if he had to be honest, there was still a wall standing between them. Not physically and also not for the lack of trying – the shooting of their series was mentally challenging in the sense that it really forced both of them to leave their comfort zones. Without that effort, it would be difficult to even attempt to create the spark they needed their characters to share.

It wasn’t about not knowing one another or being shy, either. More than that, Gulf felt that P’ held himself back in key moments. They were always friendly though Gulf wouldn’t say that P’Mew treated him like a peer – he probably couldn’t. They were too attached to be politely unaffected. Considering the nature of their work, simply treating Gulf like a younger brother would also feel strange. Any time their behaviour started bordering on overly familiar – like friends or siblings’ would do – P’ had a way to withdraw. On the surface, it didn’t look any different but Gulf could easily recognise the moment when their interactions would stop being genuine and instead took a more performative turn.

Sending yet another look towards the laptop on the low table, Gulf knew that it wasn’t difficult to figure out the reason. It was P’s way of not knowing how far he could go and curbing himself back in case he made Gulf uncomfortable. He’d learnt his lesson and didn’t want to make the same mistake twice.

‘Nong?’ The insistent voice brought Gulf back from his reverie. He blinked and turned back to P’ who was frowning at him in worry. ‘Are you alright? You must be tired. I told you not to come here on a whim.’

‘It’s nothing. I was just thinking.’

‘About?’ Gulf should really learn some etiquette but he was never a subtle person.

‘About you. You seem so out of it today, I wonder if I’m not just bothering you. More than usual, I mean.’ He made a silly face. P’ shook his head but it seemed to be a genuine dismissal.

Gulf didn’t really mean to turn it into a heart to heart but P’Mew gently took his hand into his own and placed both on his knee. He then squeezed Gulf’s briefly before saying seriously,

‘Truthfully? In recent months you’ve been one of the few people who always make me happy.’ He nodded once, sending the other a warm smile before turning back to his work. He never let go of his hand though, and Gulf let him stay this way, looking at him a moment longer before he, too, found his own books.

So no, it didn’t really start in any spectacular way – not for Gulf, anyway. Not in the bolt out of the blue sort of way, nor was it anything you might see in a romantic comedy. Rather, it was a hunch, barely a small push in the right direction. Like something lodged itself deep in his heart that evening and refused to be neglected any longer.

The very next day, Gulf broke up with his girlfriend.

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this drabble has been following me for some time so I finally gave in.
> 
> Thank you in advance for your feedback! Have a good day!


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